We didn’t test any gaming laptops that failed to meet our specs requirements (see the How we picked section for more details), and we didn’t test any that were too expensive, since this is a budget guide. As a result, we eliminated any laptops with a GTX 1060 or GTX 1060 Max-Q GPU above $1,400, as well as any laptops with a GTX 1050 Ti above $950—at that price, it’s worth getting a more powerful graphics processor instead. Here’s everything we tested against our picks in 2018:
Being Asus’s latest series in lowest “top of the class” gaming machine, Asus FX502VM is based on the Asus GL502VM chassis/body, with slight changes. It is equipped with the I5-6300HQ (cooler than I7), GTX 1060 (3GB), 2x8GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD and 1080p TN panel. There is slight difference between the GTX 1060 3GB and the GTX1060 6GB, the first one having less VRAM. However, the desktop version of GTX1060 3 GB has less core count, and it drops from 1280 CUDA cores (GTX1060 6GB) to 1152 CUDA cores (GTX 1060 3 GB) (128 cores per SM).
A guide to getting the best gaming laptop under $500 can be a little tricky because of the budget constraint. But thanks to our team of experts, it’s finally here. Irrespective of whether you are a student, a household, an employee, or a developer, there is one common aspect which everyone uses their laptop for. Any guesses? Well, it is undoubtedly the gaming caliber of a laptop of which every user aspires about. Not all the laptops out in the market can be justified as a gaming machine, and not everyone can afford the expensive gaming laptops. Therefore, we have brought you the best available budget laptops in the market which are ideal for gaming along with all other day-to-day activities.
Ross Rubin of Fast Company featured insights from Andrew Coonrad regarding the mechanical gaming keyboard market in his feature article, “The Mechanical Keyboards Of Yesteryear Are Back - And Better Than Ever.” Ross shared, “while dozens of small keyboard makers make only mechanical keyboards aimed largely at the video game market, Logitech is a keyboard giant that caters to a market beyond purists.
Last but not least, if you're a professional gamer looking to buy a gaming laptop that can keep you competitive, be prepared to brown-bag your lunches for a while. That kind of high-end performance can only come from top-of-the-line components, especially in a portable package, and they don't come cheap. Plus, an emerging trend among high-end machines is a high-refresh-rate screen built into the laptop, which allows for display of lofty frame rates in full to smooth out the perceived gameplay. Note, though, that you'll need a powerful graphics chip to leverage the benefits of a high-refresh panel with demanding games. You'll be able to identify machines like these by marketing lingo touting, say, a 120Hz or 144Hz screen. (A typical display on a laptop is a 60Hz panel.)
Being Asus’s latest series in lowest “top of the class” gaming machine, Asus FX502VM is based on the Asus GL502VM chassis/body, with slight changes. It is equipped with the I5-6300HQ (cooler than I7), GTX 1060 (3GB), 2x8GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HDD and 1080p TN panel. There is slight difference between the GTX 1060 3GB and the GTX1060 6GB, the first one having less VRAM. However, the desktop version of GTX1060 3 GB has less core count, and it drops from 1280 CUDA cores (GTX1060 6GB) to 1152 CUDA cores (GTX 1060 3 GB) (128 cores per SM).
I just upgraded an older Z170 chipset P870DM3 (which Sager calls the 9873) with 9900K. +100% CPU power upgrade over 6700K. Ran a bench at 4.9ghz allcore this morning. Others have demonstrated the current Z370 P870TM model with >5ghz 9900K. (This same model was DAILYING 8700K at 5Ghz for 6 months before laptop coffeelake came along and boy it was a huge deal when ONE or TWO of the BGA i9's completed a short bench at 5ghz!). Utter beastly pieces of engineering, that make everything BGA else look puny by comparison. For sure they suck at portability, but if you don't place such a high importance on that, and you're talking best performance, this is it
After picking our hardware criteria, we scoured the websites of major gaming laptop manufacturers like Acer, Alienware, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, and Samsung. We also browsed boutique makers such as Clevo, Digital Storm, iBuypower, Origin PC, and Xotic PC, but few of those sell configurations that meet our hardware criteria and budget; selecting every component can get very expensive very fast, so customizing isn’t ideal for buyers on a tight budget.
You can also get a sweet deal by going back in time and looking at laptops with previous-gen CPUs, as they are usually available at fire sale prices and there's not a huge difference in performance between Skylake and Kaby Lake for gaming. You won't be quite as future-proof, but you'll still get several years of great 1080p gaming at a low price. Let's dive into the top picks a cheap gaming laptop:
If the Dell G7 is unavailable, we recommend the very similar Dell G5 15 Gaming instead. It’s nearly identical to the G7, but the model we tested had a worse-looking screen with a greenish color tint, angled vents instead of rounded ones, and a red backlight on the keyboard instead of blue. Although we were able to test only the GTX 1050 Ti model, Dell confirmed to us that the G5 and G7 have identical thermal setups when configured with the same graphics card.

Nvidia Max-Q Design - Nvidia has teamed with laptop manufacturers to create Max-Q, a new design specification which focuses on efficiency rather than performance. Essentially downclocking Nvidia GPUs can place a powerful 1080 GPU into the 0.5-inch thick Asus ROG Zephyrus. With less power being consumed, the system is producing less heat, which means the fans aren't being used as much. That means you get a system that's cooler and quieter than your typical gaming laptop and nearly as powerful. Max-Q designed GPUs will include the 1060, 1070 and 1080 GPUs.

Gaming Laptops have evolved in a big way over the years with the increasing power of the device and the decreasing size. Flipkart has lined up some of the best gaming laptops including MSI GV series laptop, Dell Inspiron Gaming Laptops, Acer Predator Helios, Alienware Gaming laptops and more for you to buy under exciting offers and discounts. One must consider factors like the GPU, with the NVIDIA GeForce being one of the best, the RAM, the CPU and the drive while looking to buy gaming laptops online. Be you a casual gamer or a hardcore gamer, Flipkart has exactly the specifications you are looking to have in a gaming laptop and you can zero in on what to buy very easily on this platform.
SUMMARY: In order to replace a horrible "gaming mouse", I've decided to buy this mice. It is very-very lightweight, slides easily over the pad and I can barely feel it when I work with it. The side patterns give it a solid hold and a good feel. The buttons are soft, which is good, except for the side buttons, which should be harder a bit in my opinion. Unfortunately the light-effects can NOT be adjusted, nor can be deactivated or turned off, which drains the battery even when not in use. Battery life is VERY short, fully charged I could ... full review

HyperX's Pulsefire FPS wants to be the go-to gaming mouse for FPS titles, as you might have guessed from the name. For $50, you're getting a razor-focused gaming mouse that boasts a Pixart 3310 sensor and the standard—but very welcome—four DPI settings, switchable via a central button. The Pulsefire FPS naturally pairs with the HyperX Alloy FPS gaming keyboard, with both featuring handsome, red-and-black wrapped cables.

These affordable gaming laptops may not be able to play the most modern games on the highest settings, but that doesn’t detract from the glory of being able to game on the move without coming even close to breaking the bank. Either way relative to the amount of games out there (golden oldies and recent titles included) you’d be surprised how the amount of games you can play stacks up against those that you can’t. These top gaming laptops will cruise through popular games like Minecraft and DOTA 2 without breaking a sweat as well as many newer titles.
Ross Rubin of Fast Company featured insights from Andrew Coonrad regarding the mechanical gaming keyboard market in his feature article, “The Mechanical Keyboards Of Yesteryear Are Back - And Better Than Ever.” Ross shared, “while dozens of small keyboard makers make only mechanical keyboards aimed largely at the video game market, Logitech is a keyboard giant that caters to a market beyond purists.
The Predator Helios 500 (PH517-51) employs a 17.3” Full HD or 4K display which is either G-Sync or Freesync compatible at 144 Hz. It also incorporates the following chips: Intel Core / Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or AMD Ryzen / AMD Vega (not yet available, but the first tests have already been conducted). Its Intel processor is either a Core i7-8750H (6 cores at 2.2 GHz) or i7-8950HK (6 cores at 2.9 GHz). The test recently performed by the Laptopmag website is conclusive: it praises the excellent quality of this computer’s speakers and the ability of this computer to maintain a reasonably low temperature when gaming.

For example, the Aero 15X, weighs just over 2 Kg and incorporates a GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q graphics chip. Its keyboard is equipped with RGB backlighting and an anti-ghosting system. The Aero 15X also features two internal M.2 NVMe format connectors. Let’s not forget that it is also equipped with a 15.6-inch Full HD display operating at a frequency of up to 144 Hz (which is also factory calibrated). Other models are equipped with a QHD display (Aero 14K).

However, this is still a budget gaming laptop, and affordability is its greatest strength. The MX150 is an amazing solution if you’re mainly into eSports games, but it will inevitably struggle with newer, more demanding games. Needless to say, if eSports and indie games are your primary focus and/or you’re fine with dropping the settings in AAA games, you won’t find a gaming laptop better than this one.

Also look at the key layout. Models with an isolated cluster of arrow keys or well-defined WASD keys get bonus points, in our book. Also, because most budget gaming laptops are 15.6-inch models, check for a dedicated number pad to the right of the main key area, if you prefer to have one—or not, for that matter. Some machines of this screen size will have one, some won't. (A 17-inch laptop almost invariably will, however.)
Terrence Mai of PC Gamer featured the Logitech G560 PC Gaming Speaker in his guide to “The Best Computer Speakers,” stating, “our latest favorite, taking down the previously recommended Razer Nommo Chroma. These are the first pair of gaming speakers we've found to actually enhance our gaming experience thanks to its innovative LIGHTSYNC lighting technology and exceptional positional audio.”
For proper functioning of GPU, it is essential to have VRAM of their own. This is beneficial in storing different frames, textures and other required properties for getting frames for the monitor. Finding out how much you require may be tricky. Hence, it is better to go for a laptop with as much VRAM as possible. You can buy a laptop with 3-4 VRAM. If you have reduced budget, you can opt for 2 GB VRAM. You, however, need to ensure that the resolution of the gaming laptop is 1080P.
If money is no object, set your sights on the Acer Predator 21 X (if you can find one!). The madman's ultimate gaming rig comes with a pair of GTX 1080 SLI graphics cards, 64GB of RAM, a 21" curved screen, and an integrated eye tracker. There's even three hard drives — a 1TB platter drive and dual 512GB SSDs. Even better, you'll get a full complement of Cherry MX Brown keyboard switches and a custom Pelican rolling case.
I originally bought another mouse that was 30 dollars made by Bloody and I returned it to get this 10 dollar one instead. I don't regret my decision. I've only used it for a couple of hours and it already feels great. I wanted something that was colorful but could still handle playing video games online like League of Legends. Does it feel cheap? Yeah I mean it's pretty cheap, you can tell it is. But it handles well, moves good, and clicks way better than the other one I had bought. This mouse is definitely not something you'd throw around because it's lighter plastic.

Similarly, when it comes to storage space, your choices are rather limited. All gaming laptops are currently equipped with at least a 1 TB hard drive. That having been said, in order to boost your computer’s performance and reduce the loading time of games, you should choose a PC equipped with an SSD. Even a small 128 GB SSD would be good enough for storing your Windows operating system and your main applications. SSDs can reach 1 TB of storage capacity on the most high-end gaming computers.

We’re buying a computer early next month. We absolutely will not buy a used or refurbished machine after having really bad experience twice. We are in our 60s and are not gamers. So my question is, are these laptops new and what kind of warranty does it come with? We’re looking to keep the price under $500. Mostly all we do is google and email. Again it doesn’t mention if these are new or used. Maybe you could send me a link for new computers only if you would. Lastly is there an extended warranty, if not maybe we should consider best buy or Walmart. Thanks.

Boasting a full HD 15.6-inch 1080p display, 128GB SSD plus 1TB HDD, and an Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB GPU, the Inspiron 15 7000 is capable enough for a casual PC gamer that wants both a gaming machine and a laptop for school. There are models with a GTX 1050 GPU on the lower end, and a bigger SSD on the higher end, with all its hardware tucked into a flashy design that's just one inch thick. At close to 6-pounds you’ll notice when it’s in a bag or backpack. If you're mostly looking for a daily driver and also want to do some casual to medium gaming, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 is the best cheap gaming laptop option around. See it on Walmart with free shipping.

The Naga Hex V2 comes with your traditional features that you can expect in a top of the line Razer mouse; you do get an excellent optical sensor capable of delivering a whopping 16,000 DPI. You also get the much revered Chroma RGB lighting that can be controlled and tweaked through the excellent Razer Synapse 2.0. Oh, yes, there’s more, you can even tweak all the present physical buttons on the mouse, and tailor them according to your own need, keeping in mind that all the buttons can be fully programmed. It’s certainly a big advantage for users who want to make sure they get the most out of this mouse. With that said, we are going to take a look at some of the benefits of the Razer Naga Hex V2, and why is it such a good gaming mouse for MOBA gamers.
Gabe Carey is a Junior Analyst at PCMag specializing in peripherals, storage and the systems that power them. Prior to joining this website, he was an ardent freelance reporter for Digital Trends and TechRadar, though his most noteworthy accomplishment was racking up over 15,000 signatures on a petition to change the national anthem to Sonic Advent... See Full Bio
This brings our list of the top cheap gaming laptops under $500 to a close. For those with a few more dollars to spend be sure to head over to our other guides covering the best gaming laptops for more powerful machines that will up the ante and take your gaming experience to the next level. If you’re looking for some new games to download in wait for your new machine our guides to the best free MMORPGs and best paid MMORPGs might help kill the time, or if you are an action lover our guide to the best FPS games for some trigger relaxation. Check back soon for more awesome laptop deals and gaming glory.
Storage: Hard drive or SSD? Why not both? Some budget gaming laptops will come with only a hard drive (usually 1TB), but the majority of gaming notebooks also include a small SSD to serve as a boot drive. It’s not uncommon to see a 128GB SSD and 1TB HDD working in tandem. If you can get a larger SSD you may see decreased loading times, but that will also cost you quite a bit more money. Make sure you get a faster, 7,200-rpm HDD as opposed to a 5,400-rpm HDD.
Gaming laptops are special because of the performance they manage to pack in a small body. You not only have to consider how they perform now, but ensure they’re future-proofed for at least a couple of years. Unlike desktop PCs you can’t easily or cheaply upgrade the specification of a gaming laptop. Paying for that extra performance now is often sensible in the long term.
The graphics card is the heart of your gaming experience and is one of the first and foremost things that you need to check out. If you intend to play high-end games at maximum resolution, then choosing a gaming laptop with a powerful graphics card is a necessity. If you don’t need top-of-the-line performance, an entry-level GPU will do the trick. It all comes down to personal preference and the type of games that you would be playing on your laptop. High-end games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Watch Dogs 2, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Battlefield 1 require an advanced and powerful graphics card to play them at maxed-out settings. It helps the laptop handle the intense frame-rate and rendering that such advanced games require. Game makers are constantly coming up with games that are better than the ones that came earlier. With the level of video games’ graphics constantly on the rise, it is essential to get a laptop with a good graphics card to make your games run seamlessly.